Moondrop Guild
by olivia71295
Summary: Judd- a beta tester- and Elza, along with a few more friends get caught in the deadly role playing game, Sword Art Online. Struggling to get back to the real world alive, they uncover many secrets to the game in hopes to beat the final boss. (CC wanted. This story may be slow to be updated.)
1. Chapter 1

Disclamer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Judd! What took you so long?" I scream at the boy walking towards me.

"Elza, you didn't come to school. You were here. I had to bring your school work. Where are the others?"

"They're out getting food for me. They went to school, so they may also be doing their homework, like you should be."

"Like you should, I mean you didn't even show up to school! You just sat in a line all day."

"Judd, I am only in line for that new MMORPG game that you are a beta tester for. Two more days until it comes to this store, and I will be the first one in to get the game! I mean, I will get to play Sword Art Online with you!"

"Aren't you also buying games for the rest of our game?"

"Ya know it! They're giving me the money for the game. I also get food right now from them. So, really, what took you so long?"

"I was setting your Nerve Gear up in your room. You need it to play the game in a few days."

"True, thanks Judd! Come; sit on my blanket with me! I want you to tell me more about Aincrad. I want to be prepared."

"Elza! Elza! I got food!" A new voice yells.

"Miranda! Thank goodness!" I jump up, grabbing the plastic bag from her hands, "Judd didn't bring me any food." I stick my tongue out at him before biting into the sandwich.

Miranda starts talking, "Chris and Ethan gave me some more money for you. They want you to buy them a copy now. I think Ethan found out Meridth is getting a copy, so he decided to get one too, pulling Chris along with him. Meridth is coming over later to hand you something for overnight here. I think she's worried about you being alone on the streets at night, being a girl and all."

"She's a girl too," I say through a mouthful of food.

"How many copies of SAO are you buying?" Judd asks, stealing a bit of my food.

"Me, Miranda, Meridth, Ethan, and Chris, so five!"

"So I got five newbies to train, who's going first?"

"Elza should go first, I mean, she's the one waiting in line for everyone."

"True, are you ok with that?"

I finish my food before saying, "Sure, why not?"

Before long, I am walking out of the store with five SAO games, handing them out to my friends. Miranda, the only one of the group that I am taller than, gets the first copy, her green eyes sparkling with excitement, this is her first MMORPG game. I hand Meridth the second copy. I watch as she pushes her long hair out of her face again as she reads the back. Ethan gets the third, which he promptly responds to b ruffling my short hair. Chris takes the next one out of my hands, almost making me drop my copy. I quickly catch ahold of it and turn to Judd, "All of us are still meeting in the back left stall in the market place by two thirty, correct?"

"Come by then if you want to learn from me!"

I fit the Nerve Gear over my head, following the beginning instructions to calibrate the system. At one fifty-nine, I start the Sword Art Online game with two simple words, "Link Start!"

* * *

Hi, author Liz here. I would like to state before I go on that this is my first (real) fanfic in a lot of years, and my first story on here. I would love CC. Also, if you ever get confused, ask me. I hope you enjoy reading this.


	2. Chapter 2

As someone pointed out, CC is not a common term on this site. On other writing sites it means constructive criticism. I was asking if you could point out where I go wrong in my writing. Say you notice I always forget to put a comma in a spot that needs to have a comma, you point that out to me, and I try to fix it. Thank you for reading my story!

* * *

I quickly go through all the screens, confirming the senses, selecting a language, logging in, and making my character. I smile as I adjust my avatar's height. Judd will not be able to call me short-stop here! Not that it matters though, I just want to throw him off.

I blink as I adjust to the warped viewing inside the game, looking down to see my bare legs. I jump back in surprise, looking for my pants before realizing one scary, simple fact. I happen to be wearing a skirt. A mini skirt, pink too, now that I look. Of course they had to put together my two least favorite things. As soon as I have the money, I am getting some pants. And a long sleeved t-shirt. I just cannot go around long in this revealing thing. Judd, I need to find Judd! He will laugh at my clothes though. He knows I would never wear this sort of thing in real life. I run to where Judd said he would be yelling out his name from real life, "Judd! Judd! Where are you?"

"Elza? He's not here yet," A voice, Meridth's says.

"Meridth? Is that you?"

"Ya mean Murderdeath, right?" She responds.

"That nickname Miranda gave you really? You'll sound like a PKer," I say, seeing her username come up near the green plumbob, "My name's Elda55 here."

"Yeah, it was all I could come up with. Wonder how long till the rest of the gang gets here?"

"Oi! Meridth! Elza!" Miranda's voice calls out, "Look who I found!"

"Miranda?" I ask, looking at the tall girl with two boys behind her, "Ethan? Chris?"

"Yeah, but I'm MiraMira here! Chris is CrazyC and Ethan is Egon!" I watch as each of their names come up, "Looks like I'm taller than you now Elza!"

"I'm Elda55 here, and I'm guessing that makes me the shortest of the group. I even my myself taller her than in real life. I wanna know, is why Ethan and Chris get pants and we get skirts."

Meridth speaks up, "Ya know Miranda, I'm Murderdeath now, and Elza, we're girls, of course we get skirts!"

"But you two never wore skirts either in real life, you can't say you like this!" I state, "Any idea when Judd'll get here?"

"I've been here short-stop!" Judd's voice says, "Thanks for all the names!" He hands out some weapons and clothes, "While you five have been chatting, I took the liberty of getting some swords for everyone and some pants for you girls. Does everyone know how to equip the items?"

I nod as I put on the black pants and simple one handed, straight sword. Judd continues, "I took the liberty of choosing the best weapons for each of you. Ethan and Meridth get two handed swords. Miranda and Elza get one handed swords. Chris, you get the curved. I also have a straight sword. You each have so many points to put into strength and agility at the moment. For Ethan and Meridth, put all in for strength, you'll need it for that kind of sword. Chris, put two in strength and one in agility. Elza, Miranda, put two in agility, one in strength." I nod, doing so.

"So when will you teach us how to fight?" Ethan asks.

"After we all party up of course! Just accept my request and we'll be off!" Judd responds.

~*~*~*~Time skip to field~*~*~*~

"Now just select single handed sword and agility as your skills," Judd says to me, getting me ready to fight, "Now you can use sword skills, here, watch me."

I watch as he does a simple attack on a boar, bringing down its HP to the halfway point. "What's that one called?" I ask.

"Slant, try just do this," He says.

~*~*~*~Done with training~*~*~*~

"Wow, it's already almost six! Mom's going to be mad if I'm late for diner! We're having my sister's favorite meal tonight!" I say, looking for the log out button, "Judd, where's the log out option? I can't seem to find it."

"What do you mean? It should be right her-" He starts, noticing it missing, "It must be a bug, we can't log out any other way."

"Ya sure there are no other ways Juddy?" Ethan asks.

"Someone can remove the NerveGear or the people in charge can do a forced log out, otherwise we're stuck," Judd responds.

A wave of light surrounds each of us, teleporting everyone back to the Starting Town's main plaza.

"Was that a forced teleport?" Miranda asks just before the sky starts to turn red. I watch as what seems to be blood comes out of some of the surfaces and start to form a hooded figure, the game master.

It starts to speak, "Attention players. Welcome to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. As of this moment, I am the only person able to control this world. I'm sure you've already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game, but a key feature of Sword Art Online. You cannot log out of SAO of your own free will. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit powerful microwaves, destroying your brain and thus ending your life. Unfortunately, there have been several instances where players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and attempted to forcibly remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players have exited permanently, from both Aincrad and the real world. As you can see, news reports all over the world are reporting on this situation, including the multiple deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed has been reduced. So, I would like you all to focus on clearing the game. But be sure to keep this in mind. There is no longer any function to revive someone within the game. The instant your HP drops to zero, your avatars will vanish forever. And simultaneously, your brains will be destroyed be the NerveGear. The one condition for your escape is to complete this game. You are presently on to lowest floor of Aincrad, floor one. If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the Floor Boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on floor one jundred and you will clear the game. Now than, finally, I've provided you all with a present in your item storage. Please see for yourselves." I, just like everyone else, pull a mirror from my inventory and look into it, a blue light surrounding me, making me shorter, more me. I look around at my friends, not seeing their avatars, but their real selves from the real world, but still in the strange armor. But how? I know it can see our faces inside the gear, but what about my height and body type. The calibration! It must have picked that up then! I put the mirror back in my inventory just as the hooded figure starts to talk again, "Right not, you must all be wondering, 'Why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and the NerveGear, do such a thing?' My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason… To create this world and meddle in it. And now, all is complete. This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. I wish you luck, players."

I watch as he disappears, and a few words come out of my mouth, "What do we do now?"


End file.
